I’ve long had a particular weakness for performers who simply pick up an acoustic guitar and make greatness happen. It likely stems from my obviously mistaken notion of the outcome awaiting me had I the same skill. More than that, … Continue reading One for Friday — Kristin Allen-Zito,”Cup of Love”

I remember it as a slow, melancholy dimming of the lights for a certain kind of record collecting — or, being precise about the era, CD collecting, I suppose. Paul Westerberg was just a few years into his solo career, … Continue reading One for Friday — Grandpaboy, “Psychopharmacology”

Twenty-four hours from the moment I am typing these words out, students will be marching. They are marching in anger. They are marching because of their unyielding conviction. They are marching because they are engaged. They are marching because they … Continue reading One for Friday — Patti Smith, “People Have the Power”

Ages ago, I was engaged in one of those late night, multiple-beer-fueled, freewheeling conversations that only seem to happen in one’s collegiate years, when the constant exchange of ideas and theories is the coin of the realm. Since it was … Continue reading One for Friday — Jonathan Richman, “You Can Have a Cell Phone That’s OK But Not Me”

Well before I ever set foot in the city of New Orleans, impressions about its rough, spooky charms were set for me. Movies fed my notions, but a more significant part of the mural was colored in by music. Since … Continue reading One for Friday — Concrete Blonde, “Bloodletting (The Vampire Song)”

When it came time to hand out Oscar nominations for the 1988 movie year, Academy members were so dismayed by the compositions eligible for the Best Original Song category that they reduced the number of contenders by forty percent. Only … Continue reading One for Friday — Rachel Sweet, “Hairspray”

Yes, this strikes me as the sound of 1980. The Johnny Average Band was the result of the strangely communal Woodstock-based recording studio known as Bearsville. Founded and operated by Alber Grossman, best known as Bob Dylan’s manager through much … Continue reading One for Friday — The Johnny Average Band, “Ch Ch Cherie”

Although I was present and aware during the time when the Go-Go’s dominated radio, MTV, and good chunk of pop culture as a full-on sensation, I don’t recall if there was any particular pressure to identify a favorite band member. … Continue reading One for Friday — Jane Wiedlin, “Rush Hour”

As we come upon the time when exhaustive discussion of the Winter Olympics swamps out all other topics for a couple of weeks (with the sartorial and broadcasting stylings of Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir the only aspect of the … Continue reading One for Friday — Meryn Cadell, “The Sweater”

I have been writing weekly College Countdown posts for many years by now. Depending on the chart — and of course the position on said chart — my commitment to listening to can deliver some rough material into my ears. … Continue reading One for Friday — The Dictators, “Next Big Thing”